James Street North

In the heart of the city, James Street North has seen significant changes over the past decade. The only neighbourhood Expressing Vibrancy studied that is not represented by a Business Improvement Area, it has undergone positive commercial and cultural development in recent years, with a variety of businesses, eateries, and arts-related spaces now calling the street home. This active street also brings visitors from other regions during regular festivals and events.

A relatively young population, 40% of its residents are under the age of 30, according to census data from 2011. The average median household income is $29,326.50. An ethnically diverse area, the most commonly spoken non-official languages are Chinese languages, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Italian, and 18% of its residents have obtained a university diploma or degree.

Expressing Vibrancy looked at James Street North from King Street north of Gore Park to Murray Street.

Quantitative Data

The first phase of the Expressing Vibrancy project took stock of the physical attributes, functional features and community assets in each neighbourhood through the collection of tombstone data – an inventory of the characteristics of an area that tend not to change significantly over time. Features such as trees, bus stops, public art, community signage, and urban braille – 38 asset types in total – were counted, recorded, and reviewed over the course of 12 weeks. This initial inventory was rounded out by data from the City of Hamilton’s cultural planning research, as well as statistical data provided by the Centre for Community Study. This inventory was then averaged over a city-block distance to create a comparable model between neighbourhoods, adjusting for disparities in geographic size.

Click here to view category definitions and to download raw data.

Natural Elements

Trees

Baskets

Planters

Green Space (800m)

Air Quality

Diversity

Ethnic Centres

Languages Spoken

Creative Sector Diversity

Zoning Mix

Ethnic Businesses and Indicators

Creative Engagement

Creative Businesses

Public Facilities

Art in Public Spaces

Social Spaces (800m)

Festivals & Events (800m)

Access to Information

Commercial Information

Community Information

Neighbourhood Signage

Safety Signage

Urban Design

Vacant Buildings

Heritage Buildings

Accessibility

Garbage/Recycling

Street Furnishings

Walk/Ride/Drive

Qualitative Data

Following the collection of quantitative data in each neighbourhood, the study aimed next to capture a range of subjective impressions, opinions, and feelings from individuals exploring each area. Volunteers – 230 in total – from a diversity of socio-economic brackets, ages, and ethnic backgrounds toured each neighbourhood on consistent days of the week and times of the day to ensure comparable experiences were recorded. Observations were limited to what could be experienced from the vantage of a pedestrian. This layer of data collection noted the diversity of responses to elements in the urban environment, with particular attention given to how members of various demographic groups related to certain elements, and how that influenced their sense of the space.

"The street is very energetic in terms of how busy it is, and the attitude of the people as they walked up and down the sidewalk. There is definitley a type of energy on James Street that you don't see anywhere else."

"The smell! It smells fantastic! Also, the different cultures and mix of old and new."

"Lots of small businesses, diversity in offerings, variety of businesses, some mom and pop and others hip and modern. Lots of options for everything: café, dining, shopping, clothing, art. Signs of new businesses opening – exciting."

"Right now the neighbourhood is very low key. However, during Art Crawl it's completely different because of the tons of people from all different ages. During a regular day it is not too busy but still vibrant with all the different sights and sounds."